Alexei Rykov

Alexei Ivanovich Rykov (25 February 1881-15 March 1938) was Premier of the Russian SFSR from 2 February 1924 to 18 May 1929 (succeeding Vladimir Lenin and preceding Sergei Syrtsov) and Premier of the Soviet Union from 2 February 1924 to 19 December 1930 (succeeding Lenin and preceding Vyacheslav Molotov).

Biography
Alexei Ivanovich Rykov was born in Saratov, Russian Empire in 1881, and he joined the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party in 1898. In 1903, he joined Vladimir Lenin's Bolsheviks, and he played an active role in the 1905 Revolution. Months prior to the October Revolution of 1917, Rykov became a member of the Petrograd and Moscow soviets, and he was elected to the Bolshevik Party Central Committee in July-August of the same year. The moderate Rykov came into conflict with the radical Lenin and other Bolsheviks, but he served in many roles in Lenin's government, including People's Commissar for Internal Affairs on the Council of People's Commissars. During the Russian Civil War, he oversaw the implementation of the "war communism" economic policy, and helped oversee the distribution of food to the Red Army and Red Navy. In 1923, Rykov and Lev Kamenev became Lenin's deputies after Lenin suffered a stroke, with Kamenev acting as leader of the USSR. From 1924 to 1929, Rykov served as Premier of the Russian SFSR, and he served as Premier of the Soviet Union from 1924 to 1930. In 1930, he was removed by the Politburo by Joseph Stalin, who wanted to purge Rykov, Kamenev, and other moderates from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. From 1931 to 1937, he served as People's Commissar of Communications, and Rykov and Nikolai Bukharin were arrested at the same meeting. On 15 March 1938, the two were found guilty of treason and executed.